


The Penguin Protocol

by starkerswonderland



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Peter has a huge crush, Tumblr request, have some fluff!, only warning: Tony invades Peter's privacy massively...he's a bit obsessed with Peter, this is honestly just sweet :D
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28203336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkerswonderland/pseuds/starkerswonderland
Summary: Peter has a huge crush on Tony. They spend a lot of time together but Peter had not managed to come closer to Tony yet. Talking to his AI, Friday, however is much easier. So he tells her about all his feelings, not knowing that Tony is standing right behind him.What happens next? Read it and you will find out :)
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 23
Kudos: 192





	The Penguin Protocol

**Author's Note:**

> I received an ask on tumblr to write something about Peter talking to Friday about his crush on Tony, while Tony is standing behind him all along. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy some sweet stuff :)
> 
> Love you all!!

Tony was focused on the display in front of him. Every now and then a little red light blinked, reminding him that what he tried to do did not work yet. But who was he to give up already? He would find a way to make it work. He could make cars fly and birds swim, if he wanted to. All he needed to do was keep on trying. His obsession for details and being a perfectionist helped a lot. Friday had a strict order not to let any interruption cause him to stop his work, there was just one exception. And this exception came walking down the stairs, looking like the cutest Nerd in his blue pullover, the collar of his polo shirt from underneath visible. There was a little smooth sound as the door opened by itself and Peter entered the lab with a smile.

“Fri, start the penguin protocol”, Tony ordered and minimized the holographic monitor in front of him, grabbing for his weird – but healthy - green shake and drinking a bit of it. Peter came closer, waving one hand awkwardly and holding the strap of his bag with the other.

“Hey Mr. Stark! I know I’m a bit early”, he explained, putting his bag aside on the leather couch in the corner. The boy clearly felt comfy around here, which was no surprise considering the amount of time they both spent here. It had started with just small visits. Wasn’t that kind of how things always started? To Pepper, or others, it was obvious that Tony wanted to have the boy around him as long and as much as he could. Tony, however, convinced himself that it was simply easier to make adjustments to Peter’s suit when the boy was around to test them, wear them or bring in his own ideas. It was all for professional purposes, so to say. Just that it wasn’t.

Those small visits got longer soon, until Peter started to work on his own ideas and little projects while Tony was deep in his own stuff. They enjoyed their company, not even needing to talk much. Sometimes they just worked side by side for hours, listened to “Fuck No Peter that is not Led Zeppelin” music and helped each other finding their innovations weaknesses.

It was easy to talk to Peter about even the most complex topics, which was a pleasure for Tony’s mind. He rarely had someone to talk to like this. Talking with Friday, or Karen, or back in the older days Jarvis, was just not the same. It could not give him the same feeling. He figured he liked it when there were two deep honey eyes looking at him while talking. Or an adorable frown on the boy’s expression when he didn’t catch on the things Tony was saying. He wasn’t the first human to enjoy interactions with other humans, was he? No big deal.

“It’s alright kid”, Tony waved a hand. “Gotta go to a little meeting, so…just start off with whatever you are trying to do there”, he pointed to a bunch of tools and metal parts on a work bench. Kind of…Peter’s work bench. Yes…Tony had really sacrificed one just for the boy, leaving him enough space to experiment around. Did the boy accidently destroy a high-tech tool worth some thousand dollars? Yes, he did. Did Tony mind? Not at all.

Peter’s shoulders slouched and he nodded slowly. “Yes..sure..I just..work on my stuff”, he smiled politely and watched Tony leave.

He let out a little sigh when walking over to his work bench. He grabbed a tool, twisting it in his hand and looked around. Peter always loved to be in the lab, it was like a dream come true for a tech-nerd like him but…what he enjoyed even more about the time here was the company of Tony Stark.

He could easily forget to work on his own stuff if he watched the man being so focused on what he was doing. And if he stared whenever Tony had to move or lift something really heavy, it was just understandable, because underneath those clothes Peter knew this man looked like a god.

People often underestimated Tony’s physical strength. It was easy to see him as the weaker one compared to people like Steve or Thor, but Tony…Peter had no doubt the man could lift and hold him with one arm for more than an hour. Or press him to a wall, holding him up while…

A loud noise interrupted his thoughts. He had dropped the tool in his hand. There was a blush on his face when he quickly picked it up again, gently placing it on the bench where it belonged.

Well, if Tony had to have a meeting first, he could really try to get the time over with working a little. He sorted his stuff and started to, but his mind just wouldn’t stop to let his thoughts wander to Tony. A little dreamy sigh escaped his lips. Tony looked so damn good today, every day actually, but Peter loved those days where his hair was a bit ruffled and he was wearing something…tighter.

“Friday…is there any second Tony does not look SO good?”, he sighed and a little talking with an A.I. wouldn’t harm anyone, he thought. “Is there a reference for “So Good”, Mr. Parker?”, the friendly, sometimes even cheeky voice replied. “Like….a god”, Peter smiled and tipped a screwdriver against his chin. “There are various illustrated versions of gods, please specify the religion you are referring to”, she answered and made Peter laugh. Now he was imagining Tony with a white, long robe and white hair, a halo over his head. Damn even then he would look good.

“No…I mean…”, Peter sat down looking at his project but thinking of something else. Or rather someone. “He just…always looks so good…”, he mumbled and smiled. “I wonder if he thinks I look good too? Has he ever mentioned that?”, Peter asked curiously and Friday answered without hesitation and in a way that made Peter’s cheek turn deep red. “Mr. Stark referred to your looks as ‘attractive as fuck’.”

Tony had never said this to his face so it kind of meant even more. Because if Tony thought like this about him, but did not mention it meant… Peter bit his lip. “I…I wish he would tell me…I cannot even imagine what I would say then but…god, I wish he would say such things to me. I DREAM about this”, he confessed and buried his face in his hands for a moment, still a bright smile on his face. He just couldn’t help it when talking about Tony.

“You dream about Mr. Stark?”, Friday asked. Of course, she did. She was programmed to have something like a real conversation if needed and so she did. “Way too often…I just..can’t help it. It’s like my mind cannot get enough of him so whenever I do not see him I dream of him…but..actually I also dream of him if I see him…”, he explained and looked at the ceiling of the lab. “It sometimes makes me wish I had other superpowers.”

“Which superpowers would you like to possess, Mr. Parker?”

“I want to read minds. You want to know why? Okay here we go. First of all…I could stop people from doing stupid shit before they even do it because I would know they want to do it…but…that’s just for the crime fighting part…I would use that power mostly just around Tony…I want to…”, again a little dreamy sigh. “…oh I wish I could just know everything about him…like..not the obvious stuff or the things everyone knows…I want to know what’s going on in his mind…what he feels…he’s not an open book about such stuff.”

Friday would agree, if she didn’t know that Tony was in fact open about his feelings. Just not to any human being. Including himself, from time to time.

“You could ask him, specifically?”, she suggested to offer a solution to Peter’s seemingly big struggle. Peter just chuckled. “Yeah like…”Hey Tony, please tell me how you feel because I am so madly in love with you and I just want to make you feel good?” That would be like…He would kick me out”, he sighed. “I don’t even know what he thinks about me…if he…sees me like that.”

“Like someone to love?”

Peter nodded, looking at his hands. Someone to love…that sounded so nice, so tempting…He wanted to be loved. Loved by Tony Stark. He knew it made him sound like a teenager, god knew he even had some hearts painted on his college block, little letters in it that were stating “P+T” or “T+P”. He just had all those feelings that made him do kitschy stuff, stuff that other people would shake their heads about. Peter never had such a crush before, so strong that it made him feel like he could fly. It seemed to him not only his usual senses were dialled up to eleven, maybe it was also his crush.

“I wish he would love me…I just…love him so much…”, he smiled. There was no use in denying his feelings, even though he could not be sure if they would ever be returned but somehow it felt good to just let it all out. And Friday had no friends to give away his secrets to, so she was perfect.

“You might want to change your position”, Friday offered but Peter shook his head.

“No…no I would never…I know some people consider those feelings as stupid or naïve or… some even find it disgusting, I know that. But come on…there is no point in being against two men as a pair…and…if you feel love, you feel it…why would I want to change that”, he looked over to Tony’s work bench and warmth filled his heart. He imagined Tony standing there, being so concentrated. The way he smiled whenever his ideas worked…

“I respect this, Mr. Parker. But you might want to turn around”, Friday tried again.

Peter frowned with a smile and turned around. His face lost all its colour in a matter of seconds and his heart stopped.

Tony.

Right…behind him….standing…looking…

All words that could be said got stuck in Peter’s throat. How long was Tony standing there? What did he hear? What…did he think? So many questions and yet…none of them made it out of Peter’s lips. Instead, he felt a strong desire to just faint…or fall down a building. Anything that could get him out of here.

“Forgot my keys”, Tony said with a smirk. His eyes didn’t give away what he was thinking. There was just this smirk….that could only mean he heard more than Peter was comfortable with.

“Glad you found a good conversation partner”, he added as he walked to his work bench and grabbed for a little flat key. He walked towards the exit again, looking at Peter who was still just staring.

“Don’t forget to breathe, Pete, I don’t wanna have to get rid off a corpse today”, he joked and the door slid open again. “Friday, while I’m gone…why don’t you tell Peter about the penguin protocol”, he said and left again.

Peter slowly reached for his chest…was his heart still beating? Was he really still alive? He exhaled sharply, took in a deep breath before grabbing at the work bench to find some hold. “Oh…my….god…..”, he whispered to himself and was just about ready to dive in a full panic attack as Friday began to talk again, somehow calming him.

“The penguin protocol was created by Mr. Stark to record and save all material about you, Mr. Parker, and things that concern the relationship between you and Mr. Stark. Karen submitted all the little videos you made of yourself talking about him and your crush on him. There is also plenty of data about all your favourites, like, favourite food, colour, hobby…Mr. Stark saves and looks through all this data on a regular basis”, she informed and Peter could barely follow her, not understanding what this meant. Tony knew about his crush for much longer because he spied on him?

“Mr. Stark named it penguin protocol because….”, Friday said but then just ended, without explaining it. Peter frowned. “Because…? Friday! Why? What does all of that mean?!”

A soft vibration caught Peter’s attention and he grabbed for his phone. A new message. From Tony….

Peter hesitated, his fingers shaking, but then he opened the message.

‘Because whenever a penguin finds his one true love, they stay with each other for the rest of their lives. I’ll be home soon, my little penguin.’


End file.
